A never-before-told story

Andrew Mellon, one of the most accomplished businessmen of his era, is almost unknown today. To this shy, diffident (but brilliant) man fell the daunting task of collecting the war debts from European governments still devastated by World War I. Dealing with Congress and the heads of foreign governments on the world stage became one of the great adventures of his life.

Winston Churchill is one of the best-known figures in history. Mellon vs. Churchill presents Churchill through a different lens, focusing on his service as Chancellor of the Exchequer when Great Britain was the largest debtor to the United States. That he became the most vocal critic of American foreign policy during that time is a scarcely told chapter of history.

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"In the 1920s the handling of what Churchill called Britain’s 'monstrous war debts' to the US was a persistent source of tension between the two countries, pitting their respective 'big beast' treasury chiefs against one another. Eicher’s vivid account recreates an 'epic battle of wills.'" —The Financial Times, A Most Anticipated Read of 2025

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